A psychoeducational model for hispanic alzheimer's disease caregivers

Purpose To examine the effectiveness of a psychoeducational program designed to address the needs of Hispanic caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease.

Participants Participants of this study were caregivers of Hispanic origin. All patients had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Outcome / Dependent Variables The outcome variables for this study were caregiver's knowledge of the origin, treatment, prognosis and management of Alzheimer's disease, and caregiver's knowledge and use of community services including support groups. Variables were measured on the Caregiver Knowledge Survey and Service Utilization Survey respectively.

Procedure The intervention consisted of a 20 hour program and was delivered on five consecutive mornings from 9 am to 1 pm. Free respite care and transportation were made available to participants. Bilingual professionals from the Hispanic community were recruited to conduct sessions in their area of expertise (nursing, social work, legal, assisted living etc). Pre and post tests were administered to determine if participation in the program improved caregiver's knowledge of the progression and management of Alzheimer's disease, as well as knowledge of appropriate community based services. The group of Hispanic caregivers was compared to a group of non-Hispanic spouse and adult children attending a similar psychoeducational intervention.

Outcomes Caregivers demonstrated a significant improvement of the Caregiver Knowledge Survey, an increased awareness of community-based services, increased willingness to attend support groups, and overall satisfaction with the program.

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CAREGIVER STORIES

Caring for a Senior Citizen involves juggling time with various doctor's visits. My mother has a variety of things to contend with such as diabetes, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, incontinence, extremely limited vision, dementia, and she's in a wheelchair from osteoarthritis, but she's absolutely adorable. She has a great personality.